FreeWheel 2009
The time has come, my children, to begin thinking about that annual cross-state obsession otherwise known as FreeWheel.
Since most people are not physically able to decide the week before the ride that they want to participate, now is the time get started. When I say "now," I mean 107 days out—that is today—now is a good time to begin preparations for the ride this summer.
There is a process to getting prepared. Let me go over it for you.
First, you have to decide that this is something you want to do. Mentally, this takes a lot of preparation. Perhaps you've always wanted to do FreeWheel, or some similar adventure that seems impossible, but by the time you decided to do it, it was too late in the year, so you gave up.
I remember in the early 90's, we volunteered to man one of the rest stops. The ride was passing through the town in which we lived, and we answered the call for help. I was fat and woefully out of shape, and sitting at the top of a really steep hill, watching a thousand hot sweaty cyclists suffer, I though you'd have to be a fool to take on such a challenge.
But by 2000, cycling had become a mild obsession for me, and I decided that I wanted to be one of those fools who rode across Oklahoma on a bicycle.
I asked the family. Not interested. I asked several friends. Not interested. I asked a guy I knew at church. INTERESTED. Yes! I found someone who wanted to go along. But a few weeks later, not interested.
2000 came and went, and I didn't go on FreeWheel, because no one wanted to go with me. So when 2001 came around, I told myself and anyone who would listen that I was doing FreeWheel, with or without them. I'm not sure anyone really thought I'd go through with it, but when the second week in June rolled around, I was in Hugo, Oklahoma for the start. Sure, I was riding in a week long event with zero friends or family, surrounded by hundreds of strangers. One week later, I was in Kansas for the finish, but I was no longer without friends by my side. Some of the people I met that week are still my close friends to this day.
My point is that you have to be prepared for your friends and family to think you're crazy. They are not going to go with you. Maybe they're going to stubbornly refuse to go, playing a game of mental chicken, hoping you'll be the first to give in. Be prepared for that. You'll always have detractors in your life. But if this is something you think you'd like to do, do it. Heck, if no one else wants to go with you, you can ride with me and my posse. We'll take you in.
The second thing you need to do is to put it on your calendar. Do it now. Otherwise, stuff will come up, and you won't end up doing it. Mark it down, and circle it, and don't let anyone change your mind. Somehow, putting on your calendar is like signing a contract with yourself. You have obligated yourself to take on this challenge.
Next, make plans to prepare your legs, your butt, and your heart. Riding 60-80 miles a day, seven days in a row, is not that hard, seriously. For one thing, there is usually a tail wind, which makes a ton of difference. Also, you're not riding alone. Conversation with like minded people can make the miles fly by. Remember, too, that it is not a race. You're under no time constraints. I know people who don't make it into town until late in the afternoon. Not because they're slow, they're not. It is because they stop at every little attraction along the way. Antique stores, historical sites, old abandoned churches and farmhouses, they're stopping. And ice cream. People love to stop for ice cream.
Also, remember that if you get tired, there are "sag wagons" all along the route. All you need to do is flag one down, and catch a ride into the next town. Its that easy. Last year, I had three flat tires in one day. I had decided beforehand that three flat tires in one day is my limit, so after about forty miles, I called Lisa, and she came and picked me up. I got to town early, we set up the camper, and it was ready by the time Spencer rolled into town. Its totally not a big deal.
One of the things that makes FreeWheel physically do-able is the training rides. In Tulsa, the training rides begin in mid-March, with a five mile group ride. Anyone can ride five miles. The route is flat, easy, and is mostly designed to get you used to riding in a group. Saturday morning, and Sunday afternoon, five miles each day. Then the following weekend, we ride ten miles each day, on Saturday and Sunday. A little longer, a little hillier. Then it moves to fifteen, then twenty, and so on, until the end of May, when the training rides are 70 miles each day. When I first started, I had never ridden more than fifteen miles at a time. But by the end of May, I did the 70 miles. And the following weekend, I figured "what the heck," and I did a hundred.
Ever since 2001, I have participated in FreeWheel, with two exceptions—2004 and 2007. In fact, that second week in June is the focus of my year, from a physical training perspective. Because I know that FreeWheel is coming up, I am focused more on diet and exercise throughout the Spring. Those Oklahoma hills are pretty unforgiving when you've eaten too much pizza and ice cream all year.
I always regretted missing 2004. I couldn't go that year because I had started a new job, and didn't want to ask for the time off. Of course, I later found out that I could have taken the time and it would have been no big deal. So I regret that, but I also regretted missing '04 because of the route. It was in Western Oklahoma, and I LOVE the western part of our state. Looking at the pictures that came back from that year's ride made me miss it all the more.
But redemption is near, my children. In 2009, FreeWheel takes almost the same route as it did in 2004, through the heart of Western Oklahoma. Although details of the exact route are still being ironed out, here are the host towns.
Duncan—the Crapemyrtle capital of Oklahoma!
Anadarko— hometown of Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish (aka Cal McLish), a major leaguer from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Cordell—hometown of Batsell Barrett Baxter, a famous Church of Christ preacher and author. No instruments, please.
Cheyenne—location of the famous "Battle of the Washita River," where General George Custer's 7th Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Cheyenne Village in 1868.
Thomas—Home of 1238 people, one of them Kelli Litsch, who turned down scholarship offers from schools like Southern Cal, University of Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, to play women's basketball for a small college close to home. Now she is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Fairview—a small Oklahoma town celebrating its Centennial this year.
Alva—home of Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and actor Jack Ging, who is a veteran Hollywood character actor (can you say "A-Team?").
Kiowa, Kansas—a city with an area of only 1.1 square miles—now that's a small town.
Here is a segment from the show "Discover Oklahoma." Last year, one of the producers did the ride, and filmed her experience. The episode was aired recently, and gives a good idea of what it is like for a first time rider.
Since most people are not physically able to decide the week before the ride that they want to participate, now is the time get started. When I say "now," I mean 107 days out—that is today—now is a good time to begin preparations for the ride this summer.
There is a process to getting prepared. Let me go over it for you.
First, you have to decide that this is something you want to do. Mentally, this takes a lot of preparation. Perhaps you've always wanted to do FreeWheel, or some similar adventure that seems impossible, but by the time you decided to do it, it was too late in the year, so you gave up.
I remember in the early 90's, we volunteered to man one of the rest stops. The ride was passing through the town in which we lived, and we answered the call for help. I was fat and woefully out of shape, and sitting at the top of a really steep hill, watching a thousand hot sweaty cyclists suffer, I though you'd have to be a fool to take on such a challenge.
But by 2000, cycling had become a mild obsession for me, and I decided that I wanted to be one of those fools who rode across Oklahoma on a bicycle.
I asked the family. Not interested. I asked several friends. Not interested. I asked a guy I knew at church. INTERESTED. Yes! I found someone who wanted to go along. But a few weeks later, not interested.
2000 came and went, and I didn't go on FreeWheel, because no one wanted to go with me. So when 2001 came around, I told myself and anyone who would listen that I was doing FreeWheel, with or without them. I'm not sure anyone really thought I'd go through with it, but when the second week in June rolled around, I was in Hugo, Oklahoma for the start. Sure, I was riding in a week long event with zero friends or family, surrounded by hundreds of strangers. One week later, I was in Kansas for the finish, but I was no longer without friends by my side. Some of the people I met that week are still my close friends to this day.
My point is that you have to be prepared for your friends and family to think you're crazy. They are not going to go with you. Maybe they're going to stubbornly refuse to go, playing a game of mental chicken, hoping you'll be the first to give in. Be prepared for that. You'll always have detractors in your life. But if this is something you think you'd like to do, do it. Heck, if no one else wants to go with you, you can ride with me and my posse. We'll take you in.
The second thing you need to do is to put it on your calendar. Do it now. Otherwise, stuff will come up, and you won't end up doing it. Mark it down, and circle it, and don't let anyone change your mind. Somehow, putting on your calendar is like signing a contract with yourself. You have obligated yourself to take on this challenge.
Next, make plans to prepare your legs, your butt, and your heart. Riding 60-80 miles a day, seven days in a row, is not that hard, seriously. For one thing, there is usually a tail wind, which makes a ton of difference. Also, you're not riding alone. Conversation with like minded people can make the miles fly by. Remember, too, that it is not a race. You're under no time constraints. I know people who don't make it into town until late in the afternoon. Not because they're slow, they're not. It is because they stop at every little attraction along the way. Antique stores, historical sites, old abandoned churches and farmhouses, they're stopping. And ice cream. People love to stop for ice cream.
Also, remember that if you get tired, there are "sag wagons" all along the route. All you need to do is flag one down, and catch a ride into the next town. Its that easy. Last year, I had three flat tires in one day. I had decided beforehand that three flat tires in one day is my limit, so after about forty miles, I called Lisa, and she came and picked me up. I got to town early, we set up the camper, and it was ready by the time Spencer rolled into town. Its totally not a big deal.
One of the things that makes FreeWheel physically do-able is the training rides. In Tulsa, the training rides begin in mid-March, with a five mile group ride. Anyone can ride five miles. The route is flat, easy, and is mostly designed to get you used to riding in a group. Saturday morning, and Sunday afternoon, five miles each day. Then the following weekend, we ride ten miles each day, on Saturday and Sunday. A little longer, a little hillier. Then it moves to fifteen, then twenty, and so on, until the end of May, when the training rides are 70 miles each day. When I first started, I had never ridden more than fifteen miles at a time. But by the end of May, I did the 70 miles. And the following weekend, I figured "what the heck," and I did a hundred.
Ever since 2001, I have participated in FreeWheel, with two exceptions—2004 and 2007. In fact, that second week in June is the focus of my year, from a physical training perspective. Because I know that FreeWheel is coming up, I am focused more on diet and exercise throughout the Spring. Those Oklahoma hills are pretty unforgiving when you've eaten too much pizza and ice cream all year.
I always regretted missing 2004. I couldn't go that year because I had started a new job, and didn't want to ask for the time off. Of course, I later found out that I could have taken the time and it would have been no big deal. So I regret that, but I also regretted missing '04 because of the route. It was in Western Oklahoma, and I LOVE the western part of our state. Looking at the pictures that came back from that year's ride made me miss it all the more.
But redemption is near, my children. In 2009, FreeWheel takes almost the same route as it did in 2004, through the heart of Western Oklahoma. Although details of the exact route are still being ironed out, here are the host towns.
Duncan—the Crapemyrtle capital of Oklahoma!
Anadarko— hometown of Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish (aka Cal McLish), a major leaguer from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Cordell—hometown of Batsell Barrett Baxter, a famous Church of Christ preacher and author. No instruments, please.
Cheyenne—location of the famous "Battle of the Washita River," where General George Custer's 7th Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Cheyenne Village in 1868.
Thomas—Home of 1238 people, one of them Kelli Litsch, who turned down scholarship offers from schools like Southern Cal, University of Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, to play women's basketball for a small college close to home. Now she is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Fairview—a small Oklahoma town celebrating its Centennial this year.
Alva—home of Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and actor Jack Ging, who is a veteran Hollywood character actor (can you say "A-Team?").
Kiowa, Kansas—a city with an area of only 1.1 square miles—now that's a small town.
Here is a segment from the show "Discover Oklahoma." Last year, one of the producers did the ride, and filmed her experience. The episode was aired recently, and gives a good idea of what it is like for a first time rider.
You should go. If you're interested, check out the FreeWheel website, and start planning now. Let me know if you have any questions. Training rides in Tulsa begin in about a month.
Yeah! I'm gettin' totally pumped for this route! We are going to places I've always wanted to see. Seriously, like he said we will take in any strays! Freewheel will be one of the greatest experiences of your life. One of the greatest gifts Jason ever gave me was the encouragement to do this ride. Thanks, Brother!
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Me too, Spenc. Western Oklahoma is a great place. Its not always flat like some people think, but it is a blast. 106 days and counting!
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Sounds like fun Jason. Too bad I live in Indiana. We have one called RAIN and one weekend one called Hilly Hundred that is in my backyard. Aptly named I might add. Hope you have a good ride.
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I can't wait. The boss approved my time off request for Freewheel yesterday and today I filled out my registration. This will be my first year to actually do it (last three years I've said I was doing it and found reasons not to).
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Excellent Montie. I'm really glad you're going to get to join the ride this year. Will you be alone, or are you riding with friends? You're more than welcome to join up with us. Spencer will go off the front and leave us in the dust, but that's okay, that means he can get to town and set up camp. Nothing wrong with that.
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I'll being doing the ride solo this year. My son wants to ride it with me, but that will be a few years (he just turned 11).
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In Freewheel '06 I rode with a mom and her 11 year old son. He decided he wanted to to do it about 7 months before, and rode his old bike to train while saving for a new Trek. And he rode every mile - no sag. So that few years could be next year...
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Wow, that's amazing! You are right, that few years sounds much shorter to me now! I'll have to tell my son and see if that inspires him...
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